STEM Ed Announcement: Science/Engineering Saturday Seminars

[Morton Sternheim <mort@k12s.phast.umass.edu>]

This is a UMass Amherst STEM Ed program.
Contact information is below.
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Science & Engineering Saturday Seminars       Spring, 2011 
-        Designed for science teachers; new teachers are especially 
         welcome         
-        Five Saturdays each term; 8:30-1 at UMass Amherst, Lederle Grad
 	 Towers 1033 (except as noted)
-        Educational materials, refreshments, parking, PDP's included
- 	 Advance registration is required; capacity is limited
- 	 Cost $30 per session, $120 for all five sessions
-        4 PDP's per half day session

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The following seminar was postponed due to the weather. 
It is rescheduled for April 2.
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February 5. LEGO MINDSTORMS meets science class.  Paula Brault, Math,
Pioneer Valley RHS.  Learn about a great way to teach engineering 
to Middle and High School students.  This cooperative learning 
program encourages students to design, create, program, and problem 
solve with LEGO's in a science learning environment.  You will be 
introduced to "Wheels, Pulleys, Levers, and Gears, OH MY!" 
(A program of Girl Scouts of Central and Western Massachusetts) 
as well as build and program a robot that could lead your class 
to regional and national competitions.   

February 12. Colloids, Emulsions and Foams. Anthony Dinsmore, Physics. 
These materials are very common and are amenable to some nice 
demonstrations, yet are not part of the usual curriculum.  Topics 
include surface tension (and why droplets are spherical; why shaving 
cream acts like a solid even though it's made of liquid and gas); 
Brownian motion; behavior of many particles (phase transitions, 
how colloidal particles can spontaneously order themselves as 
water molecules do to form ice); technological and biological
importance (development of latex paint; inks; blood-cell sedimentation). 

March 5. Mapping Nest Success in Migratory Birds: Dan Bisaccio, Science
Education, Brown University.  GIS is made accessible to your students by
using an authentic field-based context.  Students craft artificial 
nests and eggs (and you will too!) of migratory birds and investigate 
the impact of forest fragmentation on nesting success.  Locations of 
the nests are then mapped using GPS and nest disturbance analyzed 
using GIS. Through this hands-on field exercise students learn about 
global habitat connections and conservation issues for migratory birds.  
Students as researchers may then share their data with other students 
around the country using HabitatNet (A Toyota Tapestry Grant Project).  
Learn how to visualize nest disturbance data using GIS while creating 
a nest and eggs to take home with you.   

March 26. STEM DIGITAL. This is a "prequel" for a new 3-year NSF funded
program of summer institutes designed to enable students and teachers 
to use digital images and computers to do original environmental 
science research. The program will explore topics in air and water 
quality and in arsenic contamination. See www.umassk12.net/digital 
for summer program information.

April 2. Rescheduled date for February 5 Lego Mindstorms seminar. See above.

April 30. Recall for those registered for graduate credit. Hasbrouck Lab.

Questions: Mort Sternheim, mort@umassk12.net, 413-545-1908,
http://www.umassk12.net/sess 

Online seminar registration and payment:
http://www.umassk12.net/sess/register.html. Required for everyone